Tissue holder tutorial

Following is how I make holders, there are other ways and some of you may read this tutorial and snort to yourselves and mutter under your breath “THAT’s not how you make tissue holders”….well it’s how I make them :) so far no complaints.

My technique is the “Lazy Ass Bastard” method, or LAB™ for short.

First up, I’m all about templates for patterns, especially small crafty projects that I’ll make more than once. I love adhering patterns to strawboard, makes it so much easier to place your pattern onto the fabric, trace with your chalk and then cut out.

So, for my version of the tissue holder, I’ve cut a template that’s 6 inches x 7 inches. Why inches you Aussies ask? My cutting matt and quilt ruler work inches so it’s just easier to go with inches.

Pick your outer fabric, trace and cut out slightly larger than the template. I also like to use a midweight fabric, just a personal preference. I also like to make more than one at a time, it’s quicker.

Next up, I usually line my holders with a 100% linen in a cream colour. Don’t cut your lining just yet, grab yourself some double-sided fusible interfacing, place your outer fabric pieces onto this and iron them in place. Let the fabric cool and then place these outer pieces onto your inner lining fabric. Iron away. Make sure you iron the edges well.

Next up, add some trim to the 6″ long edges. Be creative. Or don’t add any trim at all, up to you. You can at this point place your trim so it hides the pinking shear edge, if you have pinking sheared. You don’t necessarily have to use pinking shears as the fabric is fused it shouldn’t fray too much, maybe a little at the beginning.

Find the centre point on the 7inch edge and mark on the inside with chalk. Then fold in your 6inch edges to meet this point and pin in place.

Sew across the short edges. I like to oversew the opening to strengthen the stitching.

Trim any excess fabric from the seams and cut your corners at diagonals.